The U.S. State Department issued a travel warning for Yemen on Sunday due to civil unrest and terrorist activities.

The warning stems from the escalating violence between government loyalists and protesters seeking the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Piracy on the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean further threatens the stability of the small country located on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula.

The travel advisory encourages American citizens to not travel to the nation, while recommending those already in Yemen to immediately depart.

Several other governments have also cautioned their citizens to avoid all travel to the nation, including the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, for similar reasons.

Yemen is just the latest in a string of Middle Eastern and North African countries to receive travel warning for the U.S. State Department. Countries like Tunisia and Bahrain, which have also experienced civil unrest, received shorter-term travel alerts.

Yemen, on the other hand, received an upgraded, longer-term warning due to the fact that there is limited infrastructure at the U.S. Embassy to assist U.S. citizens in the event of a crisis.